For My Professor

*How easy/difficult was your experience working with Blogger? Did you feel frustrated at any point with the technology or the kinds of knowledge you had to have to blog the way you wanted to? What was interesting or fun about working with Blogger?

As I reflect back on doing my blog assignments I realize the experience was not as bad as I anticipated it would be…..

First off I am not a computer wiz nor am I a computer junkie therefore, there have been several occasions where I was not just frustrated with doing the assignment, and I also wanted to just throw the damn thing away. It seemed as though nothing was going in the direction I needed it to for the assignments, however I made it through.

Making attempts to get the blogs exactly the way I wanted it to be was not an easy task for me. It took several attempts and a whole lot of patience, and for the most part I still could not get the blog exactly the way I wanted it to be.

What was interesting about doing the blog was it gave me the opportunity to learn how to do something different. Although it was frustrating at times it was fun learning how to do new things on the blog.*Was writing the entry relatively painless or kind of a pain in the neck? Why or why not? Was it hard to write at least 250 words?

Writing the blog was a pain in the….. at first but once I got the hang of it……. The excitement set in. I enjoyed learning how to add the pictures and different colors to my blog. Although I never learned how to put a slide show on the blog or change the template and color, I kinda got used to doing the blog.

As far as writing two hundred and fifty words, once I starting witting it was not hard at all. The words began to flow and the next thing I knew I had two hundred and fifty words or better.

*Was it easy/difficult to meet the deadline for the entry and the comments? Why or why not? Do you think there may be a better way to set up a deadline? (If so, what is it?) Should there be a deadline at all?

The deadline………… um…. Meeting the deadline was easy for me the blog became a part of my weekend. The difficult part was to comment on others people blogs because on several occasions I had to wait until the next day in order to comment on another person’s blog.

I go to bed at a certain time every night therefore I was not going to stay up and wait until midnight or later to post a comment on someone else blog. Not only that sometimes it was a pain in the ……… to check everyone’s blog to see if they had it done. That’s how I got confused on blog number nine thinking I commented someone’s blog nine and it was actually blog number eight.

Should there be a deadline is totally up to you should the deadline be four o’clock in the morning no….. Then maybe early birds like me would not have an issue with finding a blog to add the comments.

*Discuss your experience interacting with other class blogs. Did you learn anything in special that you think you wouldn't have if we didn't have blogs?In general, were comments useful or just kind of pro forma?

Yes I learned a lot of interesting things about going green and the bigger picture. I also learned how the little things we do in our daily lives can make a big difference in the future.

*Compare blogging to other kinds of writing you have done in previous courses.

I prefer to blog. Me myself, I don’t like to write that much however since this was an intensive writing class, writing a blog on a weekly basis took the stress out of having to write a paper every week. Although, that’s exactly what we did in a different form, it wasn’t bad at all.

*Do you think you would like to keep on blogging on your own?

It depends on who will read the blog will I be writing in vain or will other people read the blog and comment on it as well. Also what in the world will I write about? I guess if I had topics to write about yes I would.

The Basic, Home and Travel

Five easy little things:

Keeping microwave clean it is easy for me to keep my microwave clean because I do not like a dirty microwave anyway. However I did not know you get better usage out of it also, so this works in my favor

Using water filters instead of buying bottled water sounds good to me because it saves me money in the long run and I am a penny pincher when it comes to spender money.

Reusing garbage bags is a habit that I practice anyway because again I am too cheap to buy garbage bags. So not only do I save money in a sense I save the environment as well.
Dusting my light bulbs is a habit I will start. It will continue to keep the light bright as well as save the bulb

Bring my own toiletries will be a good habit to get into because I like my brand of soap anyway. I believe when I use hotel shampoo it is watered down and their soap makes me itch


Five difficult little things:

Turn water off while brushing as a bad habit I tend to leave the water running while brushing my teeth. I have been doing it for so long that when I tried turning the water off it didn’t seem right….. I will make more of an effort to change this habit but…. It won’t be easy

Flushing less is something I probably will not get used to because I do not pay a water bill and I do not like to sit in my ……… therefore I don’t know if It will be so easy for me to change this habit.

Recycling is something else I find to be difficult to do because I live in a housing development and they do not enforce it. I have been doing this so long it is going to be a bit more difficult for me to change. My sister who lives around the corner from me always scolds me about this habit.

Unplugging my appliances will be rather difficult because I am in the habit of leaving them plugged up. Besides I will have to reset the time on all of my appliances every time I plug them up. That seems like such a hassle……… I don’t think so……..

Keeping the shades closed is a no no for me …….I am a firm believer in letting the sunshine in although in the summer I know you save energy with the shades closed…. This old habit won’t be so easy for me to break……

Through it all I will commit myself to recycling and turning the water off when I brush my teeth and while washing the dishes. These steps will be big... baby steps.... I am so set in my ways it's time for a chang..... if I really care about the enviornment and the world I live in I need to make small changes in my life...... Fron little changes will come big changes....... I will just have to commit myself to this...... and work hard at sticking to my word......... And I Will............ For my children future...............

Response to Emily's Draft

1. Does the draft have a main point (thesis)?
Yes…. I believe this is the thesis. "They are important fisheries, they help scientists identify water quality, and protect coastlines form erosion." However she does not talk about all these things in her draft.

2. Find an instance of what you consider an interesting or useful example, image, chart, etc. and explain why.

"Although coral reefs are threatened by natural disasters and events, human impacts such as over fishing, pollution, and global warming increase coral reef degradation."

I believe this is important for people to know when it comes to coral reefs because if more people knew about this fact and gave a Damn…. Perhaps they would think twice before they pollute the air, or fish with greed.

"Reefs can only survive under certain environmental conditions although corals need sunlight to survive, over-exposure to UV rays can dry out the coral. With prolonged exposure to the UV rays, corals can become stressed and release their zooxanthellae, resulting in coral bleaching."

I also find this sentence to be useful information because if more people knew about this maybe they would re consider how they contribute to global warming.

3. Find a place in the paper that you consider confusing or boring and explain why.

"Using less water will help reduce the amount of waste water polluting the ocean. "

I know I am not the best writer in the world however this sentence is confusing to me. I don't understand what she means by this statement.

4. Does the draft acknowledge where information comes from IN THE BODY OF THE TEXT? (the bibliography does not count for this question)....... No she does not list any sources therefore I do not know where she got her information from

5. If the draft has a fictional "human interest story," discuss whether it is convincing/imaginative/detailed or forced/tedious/general. ......... As it stands she has not yet come to the part of the draft that requires a fictional character

6. Would you recommend that the writer get some help with grammar before turning in the last draft? Why? Why not? She hasn’t written much on her draft so it is hard to tell. However she does need to put new paragraphs where needed.

Free Writting

As I continue to do my research, I am learning more and more about coral reefs. I find the topic to be quite interesting. Although professor thinks my research does not have a personal touch, I do have an imagination and I can fantasize about being on a tropical island and being up close and personal with coral reefs.


Although, I have never been scuba diving, one will think I have more than enough experience when I finish with this research paper. Yes this paper is a challenge for me. However what is a paper without the challenge.


When I first started this paper, I thought it was going to be a breeze. Low and behold, it is taking me longer than I expected to get through it. I find that there are so many angles I can pursue with this topic.


Reefs are not just pretty; they are also dangerous due to the variety of fish that use them as their habitat. They can also be deadly to humans. If you are a diver or a person who goes snorkeling, coral reefs can be fatal.


I have yet to begin talking about the pollution and the building near the shores of the island which aids in the destruction of the reefs.


Perhaps adding my personal self into this paper may be more of a challenge than I thought. There is so much other vital information I would like to add to my paper, however, I have to limit my information.

Incidentally, I would like to know who the other person is who is doing coral reefs as well so we can exchange information. The only name I know for this person is MY BLOG and that’s not much information for me to figure out who they are.

Coral Reefs

The topic will be about Coral Reefs which they are the "Rainforests" of the ocean. They are a source of food and medicine, and they protect the coast from wave erosion. Much of the ocean life rely on these reefs for survival however, in some areas they are becoming extinct.

The research paper will explore a time line from the last one hundred years or more of corals in the Caribbean and other areas. Since Coral reefs support the livelihoods of millions of people. They supply seafood, building materials, and are sources for medicinal products; in addition, Reefs also protect shorelines and communities from storms and erosion.

It to be extremely important to explore the coral reef and it's patterns. to venture into the Hot spots of the reef. To determine which species are dying in what area and which species are living.

Some areas are experiencing more degeneration and are at higher risk than others; the underline cause of this problem will be the focus. This paper will determine whether it is linked to climate change or the direct abuse of humans such as and not excluding over-fishing, global warming and pollution, and oil spills. What ever the cause, it will be interesting to research.

The audiences I hope to reach are the people who own oil companies, people who dump waste in the oceans and everyone including myself who is guilty of having a hand in Global warming.

Coral reefs are an important ecosystem and have a high biodiversity that serves as a storage bank of rich genetic resources. They are on the verge of becoming extinct. Much of the creatures living today rely on them for their survival. We must change our habits and save our reefs. The sources I will be using are:

ScienceDaily
This site will be useful to my paper it talks about
the variety of ways the climate changes effects coral reefs

American Museum of Natural History
This site will help talks about the wide variety of fish
that may also be causing the degenteration of the coral reef.
as well as what we can do to make the situation better

United Nations System Wide Earth
This site talks gives me more reasons why coral reefs are becoming extinct
and it talks about which areas are the worst.

other sites will be added.

Research Paper

My Research paper will probably be on Conserving Energy. one of the sites I will be using will be the National Resource Defense Council. Although this topic covers alot of ground I will narrow it down to one or two subtopics such as:

Air, - How the polution in the air effects your health and your asthma may be a result of Global Warming and where you live

Wildlife, - How eveythig we do has an effect on our wildlife and how they are in danger of becomong extinct

Neuclear Weapons and Waste, - How neuclear weapons can have a direct effect on your health such as your location and cancer can be related.

Global Warming,- This topic is so general each one of these subjects are related to it.

Water and Waste, and Enviornmental Justice, to how each one of these subjects effects your health.

The one that I am leaning towards which I did not mention is The "Food Chain" starting from the tiniest organisms to the largest.

This includes: autotrophs, hetrotrophs, and herbivores to carnivors. This topic is interesting to me and it is amazing how things live and servive in this world.

Extiction and Evolution are other topics that I was tossing around. How amazing is it to see creatures adapt to their enviornment. and the ones that don't tend to die off and Become Extinct
Extinction of animals can be caused by diffrent things like killing for consumption or the toxic waste dumped on the enviornment as well as climate change. If we talk about creatures of the water we talk about the poisions and garbage which are dumped into our water supply on a daily basis.

Even to this moment with the first draft approaching in three to four days I am still playing with topics. However my resourses includes Ebsco Host and Jstor.

http://rpa.laguardia.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/

This is one of the articles which talks about extinction I think it will be helpful because it talks about the differnt reasons why things become extinct including climate change and biodiversity.

http://www.esa.org/ This is another site with which will be helpful to my paper. This site talks about the positive and negative effects extinction has on our lives. How it is directly and indirectly relates to how we abuse the enviornment.

I am will like to share my paper globally. These isssues not only affect the region they are international issues which has a affect on everyone in the food chain.

There are more these are the ones I chose to share with you.
Looking For comments!!!!

If I am biting off far more than I can chew Please let me know.

My Reflections

As I reflect on the past assignments of this course, I realize I’ve learned a lot more than I expected. First of all this class was a lot more fun than I thought it would be. When the professor first entered into the room with her tools of the trade, I sighed. I thought we were going to be bogged down with a bunch of boring assignments. Not the case…..


The entire course is about Going Green and my views about living Green. In other words, how much do I care about the world I live in? Do I care about what is happening to the environment? If I didn’t then, with the insight I’ve obtained during this class I do now.


As I look back at the hard work I’ve done, my attitude, behavior, and my viewpoint has changed. I am more aware of the things I do to the environment. At first, it didn’t matter, now I have a conscience.


After viewing Al Gores "An Inconvient Truth" video on the environment, I’ve realized the upcoming dangers the world is apt to face if we as humans don’t change our habits. I’ve learned that everything we do has an indirect or direct impact on the environment.
Thus writing my analysis on the blogs is rather interesting. Thus, I get to read other students work and write comments about it. As well as posting my own outlook on things.


The first blog was the easiest of them all. It was about me and what I did for the environment. Thus, I was not aware that my actions were indirectly connected to the environment, I soon learned it was.


The next blog was about the film we watched called Annie says "The story stuff" in this film she showed us how the system is run and how it ties into the environment. In this blog I learned how the things we wear, eat, the places we work and the way we spend our money has everything to do with the environment.


The third blog I wrote about how my passion is ties into the journey I am taking in life. This blog I learned that the passion I have for becoming a Licensed Practical Nurse my not be where I will end up after all.


The next blog I learned the difference between having dominion over something and dominating something. This blog was interesting because I learned about how different scriptures make sense and have a direct approach about the environment.


The fifth blog was the most interesting one of them all. Although it was a lot of work I had the pleasure of viewing other people blog outside of the class and commented on at least one. This showed me how there are many people in this world working towards the same goals that I am.

For example: The Eco Geek :
I like the sites that was listed on this blog.

This one was interesting as well: The Green Thistle

These are just two of many you can view for yourself.

Each blog taught me something about the environment and how it is important it is to stop abusing our planet. As this class goes on I have a better respect for the environment and a more distinguish role in the Going Green process.